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Breaking box office records this year, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” took the world by storm. According to The Hollywood Reporter, J.J. Abrams’ film is officially the highest-grossing film of all time in North America.

The hype for this movie comes from a number of reasons. Some find the film fine on its own, while others think that the Star Wars name in general is what drew audiences. The Northerner took this opportunity to ask the real experts–the fans.

Senior international studies major Nick Canchola has been a fan of Star Wars since he was 5 years old.

“Star Wars has an incredible, engaging and original storyline with everything you could want in an epic space drama,” Canchola said. “For its time, it was revolutionary in special effects and continues to remain a source of inspiration for movies today. A lot of my close friends are avid Star Wars fans as myself, and I also regularly participate in online Star Wars forums on Reddit. I love discussing Star Wars just as much as I love watching it.”

Canchola also enjoyed the new film. He said that the nostalgia helped the movie out a lot, but so did their marketing strategy.

“Showing off the return of so many popular characters and images from the original Star Wars, promising more use of practical and special effects over CGI, but without giving away any plot details instantly got everyone’s attention and kept us interested,” Canchola said.

NKU alum, Nicole Childers has seen the movie four times.

“I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect,” Childers said. “I knew that JJ Abrams was directing, so I had high hopes. I loved what he did with the Star Trek reboot, even if his lens flares were a little nutty.”

Childers also said that the main characters were a great change.

“I had hoped that Finn and Rey were the main characters, and I was right!” Childers said. “It’s not often that you see a black man or a woman as the main protagonists. Kylo Ren was completely amazing and intimidating at least until he took the mask off, and Han Solo was hilarious. I feel like this was the perfect continuation of a story.”

Childers also agreed that the marketing and nostalgia played a huge role in the movie’s success.

“At this point, the Star Wars franchise stretches over 30 years, encompassing multiple generations of fans,” Childers said. “On top of that, marketing did an excellent job of sinking its hooks into fans, teasing the Millennium Falcon, excluding Luke Skywalker and including Kylo Ren and Solo. It left many questions with fans while giving them hints of what they love.”

Some fans got so into it that they dressed up as characters for the movie premiere.

Junior integrative studies major Jared Koshiol dressed up in a Jango Fett helmet for the movie. Koshiol even made it on the news playing guitar in his costume.

Koshiol has been a fan since his dad showed the series to him and his brother.